1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hair cosmetics and more particularly, to hair cosmetics of good stability comprising a specific type of .alpha.-monoglyceryl ethers and capable of imparting to hair appropriate styling force and gloss, smoothness to the touch and good affinity for hair without involving any stimulativeness.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally employed oils for cosmetics include, for example, hydrocarbons such as liquid paraffin, squalene and the like, animal and plant oils, synthetic oils such as 2-octyldodecyl myristate, isopropyl myristate and the like, and lanolin.
However, these oils have the following drawbacks and are not satisfactory as hydrophilic oil. That is, hydrocarbons are a non-polar oil and when applied to hair, they show poor removability by washing because of the lack of affinity for water, so that they leave the residue on hair which exhibits disagreeable feeling to the touch. In addition, when these hydrocarbons are attached to clothes, there is the fear of causing a blot thereon. In recent years, liquid paraffin of low viscosity has been reported to have the possibility of causing the skin irritation. Animal and plant oils and synthetic oils are polar oils but show no hydrophilicity and cannot thus supplement moisture to hair, with the result that it is difficult to make hair smooth. When these oils are applied as hair tonic or hair liquid, their poor hydrophilicity is unfavorable and thus it is needed to use large amounts of solubilizing agents or dissolve them in an alcoholic solution of high concentration, either of which involves a problem from the viewpoint of scalp irritativeness or inflammability. Lanolin and its derivatives are hydrophilic in nature but have a problem in stable supply because it is of natural origin, coupled with another disadvantage that they are bad in color and offensive in odor and are paste-like or high in viscosity and are thus poor to the touch, showing limitations in application. Additionally, it has been reported that liquid paraffin has a fear of inducing allergy.
Accordingly, there is a demand of developing hydrophilic oils useful as a component of hair cosmetic.
The present inventors have intensively studied to develop hydrophilic compounds which show characteristic properties required for conventional oils, i.e. lubricating property, appropriate viscosity, excellent style retentivity, oily gloss and the like and, as a result, found that a specific type of .alpha.-monoalkyl glyceryl ethers meet the above requirement.